(MENAFN- Khaleej Times) A 38-year-old man who posed as a Public Prosecution official to swindle, along with others, a businessman of almost Dh30 million in bogus business deals has been sentenced to five years in prison.
The Emirati defendant, M.B., together with a Palestinian accomplice, M.G., his wife, M.S., and three other Palestinians were all found guilty of Dh29.7-million fraud, forgery, threat and impersonation of a public officer.
M.G., 51, has also been sentenced to five years in prison while the other defendants were given one year each in prison. All Palestinian accused will be deported after serving their prison time.
The Court of First Instance also ordered them to pay Dh21,000 in temporary compensation. According to the arraignment sheet of the Public Prosecution, the group of six defendants swindled a Palestinian businessman of nearly Dh29.7 million after M.G. posed as a businessman with project deals which needed investment funds.
The complainant was duped after the five other defendants vouched for M.G.'s claims. The complainant was shown construction locations and maps of projects in progress.
M.B. claimed to the complainant that he was a prosecutor and was close to dignitaries. He also claimed that he had turned down a position in the judiciary. He showed him a forged business card bearing the logo of the Public Prosecution.
M.S., 40, also showed the complainant a forged business card to fool him into believing she was a branch manager of a local bank. However, when contacted, the branch officials confirmed that the woman was just an employee.
In the beginning, the complainant paid M.G. sums ranging from Dh50,000 to Dh400,000 through cheques, for which M.G. gave him bonds. In May 2008, M.G. claimed that his car was broke open and two cheques worth Dh3.4 million were stolen.
However, the group was exposed when the complainant went to collect a cheque of Dh3.9 million which bounced. In his statement in the investigation, the complainant said that his 'false partner', M.G., was constantly being evasive, forcing him to reported them to the police.
After the police arrested M.G., who had entered into a false partnership with the complainant, all other defendants threatened him and demanded the withdrawal of his complaint. Some of them threatened to chop him off and throw him to fish while the others threatened to sexually assault him in the desert.
The verdict can be appealed within 15 days.
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